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(No Modem' -T.. J. BELL Mechanism for Converting Motion.

Patented June 22,1880.

Yfitneses F252 PETERS, PHOTO-UTNOGRIPHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

" NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. BELL, OF GRANTVILLE, NEVADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONEFO URTH OF HISRIGHT TO THOMAS MITCHELL, OF SAME PLACE.

MECHANISM FOR CONVERTlNG MOTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,026, dated June 22,1880,

Application filed April 22, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS J. BELL, ofGrantville, county of Nye, and State of Nevada, have invented anImprovement in Mechanism for Converting Motion; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to certain improvements in steam-engines; and myimprove- IO ments consist in providing the pitman or extension of thepiston rod with rack bars or teeth, which alternately engage with andrun free from oppositely-placed toothed wheels on shafts provided withgears engaging with a common spur-wheel on the driving-shaft, so as toconvert the reciprocating into a rotary motion without the interventionof cranks and without having any dead-points.

It also relates to a certain means of arranging the teeth on the pitmanand combining them with slides carrying braces or lugs for shiftingtheir bearings and causing them to engage with the gear-wheels on eitherdesired side, so that the motion of the driving-shaft 2 5 may bereversed at will without the necessity of changing the valve-motion.

It further relates to certain details of con struction by means of whichthis reversing action is accomplished, as is more fully described in theaccompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 shows my improvements as applied to a stationary enginewhich is to run in one direction all the time and with no reversing 3 5mechanism. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3 showsmyimprovements as applied to a reversible engine. Fig. 4 is atransversesection of the same.

A represents a sliding pitman moving hori- 0 zontally in guides B, thispitman being connected direct to the piston-rod of the cylinder andmoving in line with it. This pitman is made like a rack-bar, havingteeth a a on both upper and lower sides.

5 A shaft, O, above the pitman, has a wheel, 0, which has teeth 0 onpart of its periphery, as shown, the remainder being smooth, and theseteeth are adapted to engage with those on the rack-bar or pitman. Belowthis pitman is another shaft, D, provided with a (N0 model.)

wheel, D, having teeth cl on part of its periphery, the remainder beingsmooth, asshown, these teetll being adapted to engage with the teeth aon the lower side of the rack-bar or pitman. 5 5

On the shafts O D are gears E E, both meshing with the spur-Wheel F onthe shaft F, carrying the belt-pulley G, from which the power iscommunicated to the counter-shafts at any desired point.

As the piston is moved back and forth in the cylinder the teeth on thepitman engage alternately with the toothed sections of the wheels 0 D,these wheels moving in the same direction at all times. As the pitmangoes forward its teeth are engaged by the teeth 0 of the Wheel 0 on theshaft (J, and the gear E, by meshing with the spurwheel F, rotates theshaft F with its belt-pulley. At the end of the stroke and as the pitmanmoves back its lower teeth, a, engage with the teeth d on the wheel D,thus rotating the shaft D, gear E, spur-wheel F on the shaft F, andbelt-pulley. The instant the teeth 0 on the upper wheel, O, leave theteeth a of the racked pitman, at that instant the teeth d of the wheel Dengage with the teeth a on the same pitman on its backstroke, so themotion is continuous. When the teeth of the upper wheel are engaged withthe racked pitman the smooth part of the lower wheel revolves withoutcontact with the lower teeth on said pitman, and vice versa, the teethof each wheel alternately engaging and disengagin g. Motion is thusmaintained on the engine continuously, and all dead-centers are avoided.

The partially toothed wheels O D, when very large, may be alternatelytoothed and left smooth, so it would take more strokes to make one turnof the wheel. Asthis is specially 0 adapted to slow motion, eccentricscould be attached to either of the shafts.

For a reversing-engine a slightly different construction is necessary,as shown in Fig. 2. The cog-wheels U D have teeth all the way 5 round,like an ordinary cog-wheel, no smooth place being left.

The pitman is recessed on both sides, and in these recesses are tumblingor dodging teeth or cogs b, pivoted or swung in said recesses, 10o

as shown. On each side of this pitman is a slide, H, having studs orbraces b, as shown. The reversing-dog I is connected with the slides H,as shown, and is provided with a rod, N, attached to a lever, (notshown,) for moving the rod back and forth and turning the dog on its pin2', so that when it is moved the slides are moved in opposite directionsto each other a short distance. Under the teeth or tumbling cogs b Iplace springs or an elastic substance, (not shown,) which will giveunder pressure and spring to place when relieved.

N 0w when the engine is running in one direction the tumbling cogs willbear against one side of the studs or braces b, and rotate thecog-wheels O but on the back motion the tumbling cogs will pass down bythe studs or braces b as the teeth of the wheel touch them, and thewheel 0 will rotate freely and not engage with the teeth. As soon as theteeth are thus depressed and the cog-wheel teeth pass by they are thrownup by their springs, ready to engage with the wheel in the next motion.

While this cog-wheel O is thus acting with the tumbling cogs on theupper slide the lower cog-wheel, D, is acting the reverse way with thelower tumbling cogs-that is, as the pitman is going forward and thetumbling cogs are actuating the wheel 0, then the lower tumbling cogsare idlers, and do not gear with the teeth of the wheel D but when theupper tumbling cogs drop below their stops and are idlers, then thelower tumbling cogs strike against the studs or stops and rotate thewheel'D.

By having the studs or stops on the slides, and having said slidesadjustable with reference to the tumbling cogs or teeth, the studs maybe brought to engage with said tumbling cogs on either side, so theywill engage with the teeth of the wheel when going in either directiondesired. For instance, when running steadily in one direction, thetumbling cogs or teeth on the upper side will engage with the upperwheel, 0, on the forward stroke of the piston, while in said sameforward stroke the lower tumbling cogs will be idle with reference tothe wheel D, and on the backstroke said lower tumbling cogs will-engagewith the wheel D, and the upper ones will run idle with reference to thewheel 0.

To reverse the motion of the engine, instead of changing thevalve-motion, it is only necessary to move the reversing-lever, when theslides carrying the studs or braces are moved by each other so as toengage with the opposite sides of the tumbling cogs from which theyengaged before. Then, on the forward stroke of the piston, the tumblingcogs on the upper slide will run idle with reference to the upper wheel,0, and engage with it on the backstroke, and on the same forward strokethe lower tumbling cogs will engage with the lower cog-wheel, D, androtate it; but they will be idle with reference to it on the backstroke.This, of course, reverses the motion of the driving-shaft F.

There is in this device no necessity of workin g the valves witheccentrics to reverse. By working the slide on the pitman the bearingsof the tumbling cogs are shifted,and they gear the reverse way, so as toreverse the motion.

The studs or braces are reversed from one side of the tumbling cog tothe other by means of the slides, which move each set simultaneously.

This engine needs but a small balance-wheel,

as it has no center to overcome, and it gives a steady power.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isp 1. In combination with the pitman A andthe oppositely-placed gear-wheels O D, the tumbling pivoted cogs b b,with their elastic bearin gs, adapted to be controlled by the lugs orcatches b on the slides H, whereby the motion of the driving-shaft maybe reversed without reversal of the en gine-valves, substantially asherein described.

2. In an engine-pitman provided with the tumbling cogs b 1), adapted toengage alternately with the oppositely-placed gears O D, the slides H,with their braces or lugs b, and the reversing-dog I, whereby the fixedbearin g for the teeth or cogs may be brought to either side,substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The improvement in reversing steam-engines consisting in providingthe pitman with tumbling cogs b 1), controlled by braces b on the slidesH, said slides being adapted to be reversed to shift the bearings of thetumbling cogs, said cogs alternately engaging and running free withreference to the oppositelyplaced gear-wheels O D, which wheels are onshafts provided with gears engaging with a common spur-wheel on thedriving-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

THOMAS J. BELL. Witnesses:

S. G. Posr,

A. W. SAILOR.

